Illinoise is about a young man from a small town in Illinois who moves to Chicago and then to New York. It explores his relationships along the way. The music is all from Surfjan Stephen’s 2005 album, Illinois.  

Illinoise is billed as “a new kind of musical”. The actors never speak or sing, so it’s really a dance performance with live music. It could be said that the vocalists are the leads of this production. 

The first vocalist is Shara Nova, who recorded and toured with Surfjan Stevens for Illinoise. She makes music under the moniker My Brightest Diamond. She also sang on Hazards of Love, the 2009 album by The Decemberists. 

Second is Tasha Viets-VanLear, who records music as Tasha. Her 2020 single, “But There’s Still The Moon”, has over 9.3 million streams on Spotify. 

Third is Elijay Lyons, who was last in Sing Street (Huntington Theatre). 

“Chicago” is the most popular song on this album by Surfjan Stevens. It has over 78 million streams on Spotify. “I fell in love again / All things go, all things go / Drove to Chicago / All things know, all things know”.

Josh Peck won the Tony Award for Best Choreography for Carousel in 2018 and the World Choreography Award for Spielberg’s West Side Story. 

Cost of a ticket: $97 (Main Level Back)

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Half Price +

Rating Scale: Exceptional Value > Worth It > Half Price > Go for Free > Don’t Bother

Get tickets now for Illinoise through February 18th! It’s almost sold out!

Quinn Delaney

Emile Griffith is a retired champion boxer suffering from dementia in old age. Flash back to his youth where he was first introduced to boxing just by chance of where he found work. In an early fight, he beats his challenger into a coma which leads to the challenger’s death. This haunts him for the rest of his life. 

This opera does an excellent job of capturing the full life of Emile Griffith, from childhood through old age. The production is very impressive with its massive cast and large moving sets.

PlaylistHQ Tip: Towards the back of the main floor, it is difficult to hear when one person is singing. Listening devices are available at the coat check for free. 

Reginald Smith, Jr. (Grammy and Emmy winner) puts on a powerful performance as the older Emile Griffith. His pain is palpable. Justin Austin is superb as the younger Emile, building a boxer career while hiding his sexuality. Naya Rosalia James is stellar as the youngest Emile. All three of them are all in emotional sync as the opera jumps around in time. Leroy Davis is excellent as the main boxing challenger, who taunts Emile long after the fight. Larry Yando is a great dose of comedic relief as the ring announcer. 

Cost of a ticket: $155 (Main Level Back)

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Worth It –

Rating Scale: Exceptional Value > Worth It > Half Price > Go for Free > Don’t Bother

Get tickets now for Champion at the Lyric Opera through February 11th!

Quinn Delaney

Christopher takes the stage with his band and all the ladies scream in excitement. He jumps right into “Honey, I’m So High” from the 2023 soundtrack to “A Beautiful Life”. It’s a great choice to open the night. It’s reminiscent of the song by Tal Bachman, “She’s so High”.  “‘Cause she’s so high / High above me, she’s so lovely”. Both songs are very fun and poppy. Also, they both extend the word high into multiple syllables in the chorus. 

Later on he sings, “Would Ya”. “Darling, for you, darling, for you, I would, mm / I’d do anything, I’d do anything a man should”. This is such a great soulful song that gets everyone dancing along. It would fit right in on a setlist by Mayer Hawthorne. 

“What the hell you talking about love? / I thought I was doing this for us” he begins on “Led Me To You” . This is such a beautiful song that fits in the movie so perfectly. It’s because of the movie, A Beautiful Life, that he is here today. In June of 2023, it was the #1 movie globally on Netflix. He is very excited to be playing in Chicago for the first time. There’s something very special about playing in any city for the first time and he feels that magic tonight. 

In the encore, he sits at the keyboard solo and plays “A Beautiful Life”. Everyone is singing along “‘Baby, I’m pregnant,’ she said / And I saw my whole life / Flash before my eyes”. It’s such a perfect poetic opening to a song. “And I’m gonna miss the times when / It was just the two of us”. He is singing about the end of the first era of his life.  “And I’m gonna miss the times when / It was just the three of us”. Later in the song it jumps to the end of the era of him raising his daughter when she moves in. This song is so heartfelt that it has the audience crying. This made the movie so successful and it is launching Christopher into stardom. He will surely play at a much larger venue next time. 

Cost of a ticket: $25

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Exceptional Value +

Rating Scale: Exceptional Value > Worth It > Half Price > Go for Free > Don’t Bother

See a recent setlist here. 

Quinn Delaney

Adam Conover was the host of Adam Ruins Everything from 2015 to 2019. He next hosted The G Word with Adam Conover in 2022.  Tonight, he is appearing at the City Winery in Chicago. 

Adam Conover talks about being diagnosed with ADHD (attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder) when he was young. His doctor prescribed him Adderall. He said it did help him focus, but not always on the right things. He also had the side effect of grinding his teeth at night. He has since gone off the drug and found other ways to stay focused. One strategy is to keep his hands busy. He loves to eat pistachios, which really requires a lot of effort to eat. He jokes that he has a piece of string cheese at home which he is still working on. 

Conover also talks about his girlfriend of 15 years. They don’t have any kids and they have never married. “We are winning” he says. Many of his friends have married and then divorced. He thinks attending a divorce could be a lot of fun. 

Later in the evening, he talks about taking the bus in LA.  His friends are often amazed that he does this. ‘Isn’t it dangerous?” He would explain that it’s way more dangerous to be in a car during an accident than on a bus. This leads to a long bit about cars. He imagines talking to a child in the future about how everyone used to drive cars everywhere. “Were they safe?” “Oh no, they are very dangerous and many people died every year.” “Is it hard to get a license?” “No, there is just one short test that you take when you are 16!” “Were they cheap?” “Not at all, they were very expensive. And you had to have driver’s insurance. But we didn’t need to have health insurance!” “Was it easy to travel with?” “Nope!” (Traffic and parking). 

Overall, it was a very funny show and very informative about Conover’s life. Compared to his TV shows, his comedy is much more adult themed, so leave the kids at home. 

Cost of a ticket: $53

PlaylistHQ Economic Rating: Worth It

Rating Scale: Exceptional Value > Worth It > Half Price > Go for Free > Don’t Bother

Quinn Delaney